Stone Woods Cook Willy's - Re-lettering a Legend

Every rodder knows that old race cars were purpose-built to rip-up the strip and generate as many wins as possible. They were abused, blown-up, wrecked, and then rebuilt countless times over their lifespan. Many were never seen again once their race duties were completed, often being parted out or sold as rollers to other owners who would run them in different classes. In the case of the Stone, Woods & Cook gasser (pictured here), once its usefulness to the team had reached its end, the car was sold-off to new owners where it continued to run in various classes with numerous engine combinations. It finally wound up in the hands of Joe Troilo in '72. Answering a blind ad in a local paper offering a Willys body and parts for sale, Joe came face to face with the long-retired historic Gasser which he immediately recognized since he was an avid race fan. Even though the $1,000.00 asking price was steep for its time based on what was left of the car, he recognized the cars significance and purchased it. With history in mind, everything that he stripped off the car as he prepared it for life on the street he kept, including many original hand fabricated race parts. Years passed, his family grew and the car was sold off to good friend Mike Wales who later opted to re-chassis it and bring it up to Pro-Street specs. During this time frame, other parts which were no longer going to be used were sold off to Mike's friend Howard Radtke who wished to preserve them based on the cars heritage. The parts included the seats and door panels from the Ed Martinez interior and the original chassis. This is where the story gets interesting. Joe never forgot the cool times that he had in the Willys and had often hoped of buying the car back as time marched on, but Mike couldn't bring himself to part with it. In '01, Joe met up with Mike at a national rodding event that they talked about bringing the car back to its original '62 glory. Joe offered to do all the labor and to contribute back the original parts that he had as did Howard to make it all come together. In January '02 the reconstruction commenced and by later summer '06, the car was sent off to Larry Hook's striping shop in Cumberland , Rhode Island , to have it completely re-lettered to original race form. Hook being one of the most accomplished stripers in the country was up to the challenge. His concise artistic abilities enabled him to duplicate Ed Roth's lines and the visual impact that gave the car its soul.

2/24Troilo did extensive research locating countless old images of the Swindler II and had them blown up in size to allow Hook the ability to capture the fine details of the original artwork by Ed Roth. This assisted him in generating the full size templates to guide him through the recreation process.